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By KEVIN KEARNEY [email protected]
Saturday, October 27, 2001     Page: 4B

PECKVILLE – With a District 2 Class 2A playoff berth at stake Friday night,
Valley View brought its best on both sides of the ball.
   
The Cougars’ defense held Scranton Prep to 79 total yards, and running back
Phil Ross led the offensive attack en route to a 24-0 win in a Northeast
Pennsylvania Football Conference Division 3 North contest.
    The Cougars clinched a playoff berth and improved to 3-1 in the division
and 8-1 overall. Prep falls to 2-2 in the division and 7-2 overall.
   
The Cavaliers managed only nine yards in the second half and two first
downs for the game. Valley View’s offensive line, led by center Steve Baronski
and guards Nathan Poindexter and Rick Marchegiani, continuously opened up
holes for Ross, who finished with 134 total yards.
   
“I think our offensive line played its best game of the year,” Cougar
coach Frank Pazzaglia said. “And our defense played well, too. We dominated
both sides off the ball.”
   
Both teams played to a standstill for the first 22 minutes, but Valley View
seized the momentum late in the first half. The Cougars ate up almost seven
minutes during a 13-play drive that spanned 53 yards. Ross got the bulk of the
yards, carrying seven times for 28 yards, including a 1-yard lunge that gave
the Cougars a 7-0 lead with 2:05 left in the second.
   
After a three-and-out by Prep, Valley View quarterback Nick Rodio found
Ross for a 37-yard gain, bringing the Cougars to the six-yard line. Jason
Tempesta then split the uprights on a 24-yard field goal to give Valley View a
10-0 halftime lead.
   
The Cougars put the finishing touches on the win with an 8-yard scoring run
by Ross in the third, and a 9-yard touchdown run by Dan Evans in the fourth.
   

   
Dunmore 35, Mid Valley 20
   
DUNMORE – Things briefly looked good for the Mid Valley defense Friday
night, as they held Dunmore tailback Jim Ross to zero yards on his first two
carries.
   
Unfortunately for the Spartans, that was the last time they held Ross at
the line of scrimmage as he went on to run for four touchdowns and 248 yards
on the night.
   
On his last touchdown run, Ross ran a sweep around the left side, and broke
several tackles before sprinting 63 yards to the end zone midway through the
third quarter to give Dunmore a 28-14 lead.
   
Mid Valley running back Brandon Shihinski also seemed to be on the way to a
big night, running for 79 yards in the first half before leaving late in the
second quarter with an injury.
   
Sean Sholtes was another bright spot for Mid Valley, catching touchdown
passes of 24 and 10 yards.
   
FRTed Grenevich
   
GAR 26, East Stroudsburg North 21
   
BUSHKILL – Andrew Jefferson and Dino Galella combined to rush for 243 yards
and three touchdowns as GAR held on for a victory over East Stroudsburg North.
   
Sean Davies scored the Grenadiers’ first touchdown on a 2-yard run.
   
Jefferson later scored on a 24-yard scamper and Galella followed with a
touchdown run from the 3. A Jefferson run from 40 yards out gave GAR a 26-7
lead after three quarters.
   
Tim Michaels, who led East Stroudsburg with 136 yards on the ground, scored
on touchdown runs of 25 and 56 in the fourth quarter to tighten the score.
Everett Alers scored the Timberwolves’ first touchdown from 2 yards out in the
first.
   
The Grenadiers racked up 301 yards on the ground and had no passing yards.